Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Abortion

Police try to stop pro-life Christmas carols outside abortion clinic

On Monday a pair of Falls Church, Virginia police officers attempted to silence
pro-life activists caroling on public property outside of an abortion
clinic, but a letter from the pro-life law firm Alliance Defending
Freedom quickly defused the situation.

In an incident captured on video, two officers approached a group
singing “Silent Night” outside of the abortion facility and told them
they were violating a noise ordinance against “sing[ing] on any public
street or private property in the city at anytime, so as to cause a
noise disturbance.”
They stopped singing so as to avoid citations punishable by up to a
$2,500 fine or a year in prison, but contacted ADF about the incident,
which subsequently sent a letter to the police department explaining the
pro-lifers’ free speech rights.

“No city ordinance can trump the First Amendment. It’s preposterous
to think that any noise ordinance can or should be used to stop the
singing of Christmas carols on a public sidewalk,” ADF Senior Counsel
Matt Bowman explained.

The letter further explained that “Christmas carols are obviously not
a ‘noise disturbance’ to ‘a reasonable person of normal sensitivities’
as set forth in the ordinance,” which defines disturbances as “any sound
which: (1) Endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or
animals; (2) Annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal
sensitivities.”
On Tuesday, the city of Falls Church backed down and confirmed that
residents were free to sing Christmas carols on public property outside
of abortion clinics.

“We’re pleased that that city has changed its tune and says it won’t
do that again,” Bowman responded. “We will continue to monitor the
situation to ensure that the carolers will be able to exercise their
constitutionally protected freedom to sing tomorrow as planned.”